What Are Your Before Party Quirks?

Last week Beth asked whether you look in other people's medicine cabinets when you're at a party. We're among the "yes" contingency. Knowing where we stand, we clean out this space before the festivities begin (we're thinking of appropriating the marbles idea). But we also have some other odd habits, as a friend reminded us this weekend. Once, before a very large party we threw at our house to which a very famous singer had RSVP'd, we found ourselves on our hands and knees cleaning...

the oven. In our embarrassment, we'd forgotten about this but yes, we spent two hours pre-party cleaning our O'Keefe and Merritt stove (in our defense, half the party ended up in the kitchen that night).

In an informal poll, bathrooms (especially toilet bowls) and bedrooms seemed high on the list of things to attend to. One friend optimistically changes the sheets before a party hoping to "get lucky," another fills her fridge with breakfast food (though whether she's hoping for a single person sleepover or that the party lasts all night we're still not sure) and still another straightens all of his top drawers (clearly he's worried that his friends' nosiness extends beyond looking in the medicine chest).

Where does this come from? We started thinking about it and came to the conclusion that it's kind of like cleaning before a trip. Part of the motivating force behind it is the worry about how other people judge us by the kind of home we keep -- clean, messy, organized, trendy, cozy; the other's the worry about how the party (or the trip) will turn out. With the holiday party season fast approaching, what's the craziest pre-party thing you've ever done?